A scrappy Seattle cold-brew brand is staring down a global giant in a trademark fight that could decide who gets to lean hardest on the city’s coffee cred. Nestlé has asked the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel Seattle Strong’s registration for the SEATTLE STRONG mark, arguing it clashes with the older Seattle’s Best brand and could confuse shoppers. Local coverage, including a video from KIRO 7, has pulled a fairly wonky legal dispute out of the filings and into the public eye.
What Nestlé is asking the board to do
In an April 1, 2025 Petition for Cancellation, Nestlé asked the board to cancel Registration No. 7173148 for the mark “SEATTLE STRONG,” claiming it is confusingly similar to its long-used SEATTLE’S BEST mark and asserting likelihood of confusion and dilution. The company points to decades of use and federal registrations for SEATTLE’S BEST and is asking the board to strip Seattle Strong of its federal protections. According to the TTAB filing, Nestlé says SEATTLE’S BEST is distinctive and famous, and that overlap on coffee products puts consumers at risk of mixing up the brands. TTABVUE.
Seattle Strong pushes back
Seattle Strong, a SoDo startup that grew out of a University of Washington class project, is not exactly rolling over. The company has cast Nestlé’s move as an attempt by a multinational to lock down exclusive rights to the city’s name in the coffee aisle and has relaunched a fundraiser to help pay its legal bills. It also issued a press release defending the brand. On its GoFundMe page, the team puts it bluntly: “We don’t think that’s right. So, we’re fighting back.” See GoFundMe and Seattle Strong.
Where the case stands now
Board records show the cancellation case has been churning along since Nestlé filed in April 2025. Seattle Strong answered in May 2025, and Nestlé later opened a second front on March 31, 2026, by filing a separate opposition against a related application. On June 5, 2026, Nestlé moved to consolidate that opposition with the cancellation. The motion and docket entries also show the parties agreed to multiple pauses while they explored settlement, and that the cancellation proceeding started up again in late May 2026. See the TTABVUE motion to consolidate and docket.
Legal stakes for small brands
If the board cancels Seattle Strong’s federal registration, the company would lose the built-in presumption that it owns the mark nationwide, which can make it tougher to police imitators or strike favorable distribution deals. Losing the registration does not automatically ban local use of the name, but it weakens the legal armor that often matters most when a small player faces off with a corporate heavyweight. TTAB proceedings tend to be procedural and slow, with discovery, motions, and potential appeals all in the mix. The USPTO details how opposition and cancellation cases work, and what a cancelled registration does to a trademark owner’s rights. USPTO.
What to watch next
From here, the action will be in the docket: discovery back-and-forth, motions, and either more settlement talks or a full administrative trial before the TTAB, a process that can stretch on for months or longer. While that plays out on paper, the story is also unfolding in local media coverage, including a video segment from KIRO 7, and in Seattle Strong’s bid to rally community support and fundraising as it tries to keep its name on the label.
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